McLaughlin, Power give Team Penske front row sweep during qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Will Power swept the front row during qualifying Saturday for today’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, less than a week removed from the organization being whacked with an embarrassing round of penalties by sanctioning body INDYCAR.
Scott McLaughlin. Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series
McLaughlin earned his first NTT P1 Award of the season and sixth career NTT IndyCar Series pole via a final lap of 1-minute, 5.9490-seconds/125.552 mph during the Firestone Fast Six session at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet, delivered the 300th pole to team-owner Roger Penske. Power, meanwhile, placed second after lapping at 1:06.0460/125.367 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet.
The front-row lockout capped a tumultuous week that began on Wednesday when Team Penske’s three fulltime drivers were penalized for illegal use of the series’ push-to-pass system during last month’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. Teammate Josef Newgarden _ who emerged as race-winner on March 20 _ and McLaughlin had their results disqualified from the Florida event, while Power received a 10-point penalty.
“Look, it (P1) obviously means a lot,” said McLaughlin, the defending event winner and native of New Zealand. “Really proud for Good Ranchers to come back here with another fast car. Ultimately proud for Team Penske _ 1-2, it’s quite tough to come by in any series, let alone INDYCAR. Obviously after the week we’ve all had, it’s a nice little reward.
“I just wanted to give these guys and girls on the team an opportunity to be back on front row and back on-pole. In the last couple of races, we just haven’t hit it in qualifying. We’ve just got to keep focusing like this for the rest of the season and keep working hard.”
Power fell just 0.0097-seconds short of earning a series record-extending 71st pole. Nevertheless, Team Penske swept the front row at an INDYCAR race for the first time since last August on the 1.25-mile oval at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., where McLaughlin and Newgarden secured the top two spots, respectively.
“It’s all so close these days,” said Power, a two-time series champion and native of Australia. “It’s just little bits here and there, honestly. That’s just the way it is these days. Anytime you are in the top-six in this series, you’ve done a bloody good job.
“I’ve said it all year _ we’re going to be quick everywhere. I’m not surprised. It was obviously a pretty rough week for everyone on the team. Pretty disappointing, but we moved forward quickly.”
Sunday’s schedule will begin with a prerace warmup at 10:15 a.m. (EDT) on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Live coverage of the 90-lap/207-mile race will start at 1 p.m. (EDT) on NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
McLaughlin earned P1 in dramatic fashion on his final lap around the 2.3-mile/17-turn natural terrain road-course. McLaughlin hovered within tens of thousands of a second of Power’s top time before ripping through the daunting Turns 12-13 complex.
“I sent it pretty hard through the last couple of corners,” said McLaughlin, who fell to 29th and last in the point standings after Wednesday’s penalties were delivered. “I knew on my first flyer I didn’t quite nail that part of the track. I had a little bit of a time left up in me. I knew if I could just nail the first part of the lap, then get to 13, sort of send it through there. It was really just see what happens when I turned right into there. It worked. Yeah, it was all good.
“The car was very good the whole session. We hardly changed it. Just a matter of putting it together. Thankfully, the space between the steering wheel and the seat did his job. Any time you get a chance to get a Team Penske front row, that’s the main thing. I’m very proud of everyone. We’ve got a great car here. I love this place and love the people here. Hopefully, we can put a good show on for the fans.”
Christian Lundgaard of Denmark qualified a season-best third at 1:06:0818/125.299 mph in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Pato O’Ward, who inherited victory on the Streets of St. Pete after Newgarden was DQed, also will start on the second row after qualifying fourth at 1:06.2940/124.898 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
“We definitely squeezed out a lot of what the car had in it today,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “We’ll be starting P4, so I think we’ll be looking good for a strong race. We’ll have to get creative on the strategy. Team Penske will be really strong, so we’ll see if we can make our way forward and get ourselves on the podium.”
Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist continued his strong start in 2024 after joining Meyer Shank Racing, qualifying fifth at 1:06.4524/124.600 mph in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda. Rosenqvist has qualified in the top-five for all three points-paying races in 2024.
New Zealander Marcus Armstrong celebrated his first career appearance in the Firestone Fast Six by qualifying a career-best sixth at 1:06.9022/123.763 mph in the No. 11 Root Insurance Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing.
Graham Rahal just missed joining RLLR teammate Lundgaard in the Fast Six and will start seventh after a best lap of 1:06.0942/125.276 mph during the second qualifying round in the No. 15 Hendrickson Honda.
Newgarden, who denied intentionally cheating with push-to-pass en route to his dominant victory at St. Pete during an emotional press conference on Friday, qualified eighth at 1:06.2908/124.904 mph in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
Point-leader Scott Dixon, a six-time series champion, qualified a season-low 13th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at 1:06.1425/125.184 mph. A native of New Zealand, Dixon is a master of reading a race from deep in the pack, as evidenced by his strategic victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach last Sunday after starting eighth.
Dutchman Rinus VeeKay, pole-winner at BMP in 2022 and quickest in the morning practice, qualified last in the 27-car field after dealing with an electrical problem in his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet during the first round of qualifying.
“The car felt good to be honest. It just lost power on the straightaways,” VeeKay said after posting numbers of 1:07.7392/122.234 mph. “We didn’t have the right fix here for it in pit lane. The best thing to do is to fix it overnight and save a set of (Firestone Firehawk) tires for the race.”
Jacob Abel’s excellent weekend at Barber Motorsports Park continued Saturday, as the native of Louisville, Ky., qualified on-pole for the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama.
Abel secured P1 with a lap of 1-minute, 11.3507-seconds/116.047 mph in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports. It was the second career pole in the INDYCAR development series for Abel, who also topped the time sheet in July 2023 at Iowa Speedway.
The pole continued Abel’s dominant run on BMP’s 2.3-mile/17-turn natural terrain road-course. He has led every session, pacing practices Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
“It was more of what’s been going on all weekend long,” Abel said. “The Abel Motorsports guys gave me a fantastic car today, so I just had to go and drive the thing. It felt pretty easy out there. It was awesome. I’ve just got to finish the job now.”
The 35-lap/80.5-mile/55-minute race is scheduled to start at 11:05 a.m. (EDT) Sunday, with live coverage on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Abel ended up 0.2239-seconds ahead of No. 2 qualifier and championship leader Nolan Siegel, who turned a top lap of 1:11.5746/115.683 mph in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports car. Abel was 0.5158-seconds ahead of the field in practice Friday, and he led practice Saturday morning by 0.2995-seconds.
Series veteran James Roe qualified third at 1:11.5971/115.647 mph in the No. 29 TopCon entry of Andretti Global. He is joined in Row 2 by rookie Caio Collet after the Brazilian’s best lap of 1:11.7074/115.469 mph in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry.
Jamie Chadwick qualified a career-best fifth at 1:11.7240/115.443 mph in the No. 28 VEXT car of Andretti Global. Her previous best start was ninth in June 2023 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Rookie Michael d’Orlando also will start from Row 3, qualifying sixth at 1:11.9051/115.152 mph in the No. 3 Priority RSR Andretti Cape entry.
Qualifying for the NTT IndyCar Series’ Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst on the 2.3-mile/17-turn Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:
1.(3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 1:05.9490 (125.552 mph)
2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 1:06.0460 (125.367)
3. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 1:06.0818 (125.299)
4. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 1:06.2940 (124.898)
5. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 1:06.4524 (124.600)
6. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 1:06.9022 (123.763)
7. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 1:06.0942 (125.276)
8. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1:06.2908 (124.904)
9. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 1:06.2959 (124.895)
10. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 1:06.3013 (124.884)
11. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 1:06.3526 (124.788)
12. (66) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 1:06.3871 (124.723)
13. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 1:06.1425 (125.184)
14. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 1:06.4803 (124.548)
15. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 1:06.1481 (125.174)
16. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 1:06.5054 (124.501)
17. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 1:06.2751 (124.934)
18. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 1:06.5846 (124.353)
19. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 1:06.2825 (124.920)
20. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 1:06.6706 (124.193)
21. (51) Luca Ghiotto, Honda, 1:06.4788 (124.551)
22. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 1:06.7969 (123.958)
23. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 1:06.5267 (124.461)
24. (6) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 1:06.9052 (123.757)
25. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 1:06.8404 (123.877)
26. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 1:07.4920 (122.681)
27. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 1:07.7392 (122.234)
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 79; 2, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 77; 3, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 67; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 64; 5, Will Power, Team Penske, 59; 6, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 55; 7, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 48; 8, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 47; 9, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 48; 10, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 37;
11, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 34; 12, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 32; 13, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 31; 14, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 29; 15, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 29; 16, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 29; 17, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 26; 18, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 23; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 23; 20, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 23;
21, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 22, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 19; 23, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 19; 24, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 18; 25, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 18; 26, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 16; 27, Nolan Siegel, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 28, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 29, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 5.
